Sisters charged with battering officers

A pair of Peru sisters were arrested Dec. 23 on multiple charges after reportedly getting violent with responding law enforcement officers, according to multiple probable cause affidavits.

The call, which came near 1:00 a.m. on Dec. 23, reportedly began as a disturbance dispatch, according to an affidavit written by Indiana State Police Trooper Andrew Smith.

Smith and Peru Police Department Officer Andrew Doran both reported arriving on scene at the same time as one another, and both reported hearing loud noises.

“We knocked on the door and a female subject (later identified as the tenant of the apartment) directed us to the back of the apartment where two female subjects had (allegedly) been fighting,” Smith wrote.

According to an affidavit written by Doran, the officers wanted to speak to someone in the back of the apartment when they were stopped from entering by two females.

“Two females who were late identified as Morgan L. Camden and Alexandria G. Camden were preventing us from getting to (name redacted) to figure out what was going on,” Doran wrote.

Doran went to write in his affidavit that 20-year-old Morgan Camden jump on him when he tried to enter.

“Morgan jumped onto my back and began to choke me with her arms,” he wrote. “Lt. Richardson was able to pull her back and I was able to get out of the choke hold.”

As Doran and Morgan Camden were allegedly grappling, Trooper Smith stated he was in a scuffle with 18-year-old Alexandria Camden.

“I attempted to follow him (Doran) for officer safety,” Smith wrote. “At that time, Alexandria L. Camden stood in the doorway and attempted to block me from stepping into the back room.”

The younger Camden reportedly continued to stand in Smith’s way and ignored his commands before he forced his way in.

“I was able to push my way into the back room” Smith wrote. “As I did so, Ms. Camden punched me in the chest.”

Smith went on to write in the affidavit that Camden’s hair became entangled in the buttons of his shirt as the pair struggled.

Smith was eventually able to restrain Alexandria with Doran’s help, but reportedly continued to act in a belligerent manner and run from police.

“When she realized she was still in my grasp, she attempted to head-butt me,” Smith wrote. “I grabbed her by the left shoulder and the handcuffs and directed her momentum toward the ground to gain compliance.”

According to Doran, Morgan also resisted down the stairs of the apartment building.

“Near the bottom of the stairs, Morgan began to thrash around and as a result knocked Officer Wyrick down causing him to receive abrasions to his right leg,” Doran wrote. “She continued to yell and scream and began hitting her head on the case in the car.”

Doran reportedly felt Morgan had sufficiently calmed down, so he walked toward other officers when he heard more disturbances from his vehicle.

“I then heard one loud bang and then another and looked over,” Doran wrote. “Morgan had kicked out the rear passenger side window causing glass to go everywhere.”

Both Smith and Doran reported smelling alcohol on the breath of each suspect.

Morgan Camden was arrested and charged with minor consumption, felony battery on law enforcement, resisting law enforcement and disorderly conduct and booked in the Miami County Jail on a $17,000 bond.

Alexandria Camden was charged with minor consumption, felony battery on law enforcement, resisting law enforcement and disorderly conduct. She was transported to the Miami County Jail and given a $14,000 bond.